Wagers and Tattoos
by TerrifyingThings
Summary: Taker/Shawn. Rated M for possibilities in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello! I don't own the WWE or the wrestlers, I just write stories about them. (Does this still even need to be said?) I hope you enjoy it and thank you for reading! Shawn/Taker. Sorry about any mistakes made.**_

 **Wagers and Tattoos**

When Shawn walked back into the world of wrestling, he wasn't sure what to expect. He had had four years of back surgeries and detoxing. It actually wasn't that difficult to kick his habits after he started going to church and getting rid of his guilt by apologizing to the people he had wronged. He had apologized to everyone, except the one he had wronged the most, and it didn't help that his calls were ignored. So when he returned, all the animosity from his peers completely vanished. He had expected more hostility, especially from Hunter, who had been there through his overdosing and overdramatic tendencies, but there was only excitement and love from all but one.

He had been back for an entire month and the only one he hadn't even seen was Taker, his Carrot Top, his firecrotch; the big man was avoiding him at all costs, and Shawn couldn't stand to ask someone where he was, he didn't have the right to seek him out. He had fucked their entire relationship up in only one night and he had no right to talk to him at all, barely had the right to even try.

 _ **FlashbackFlashbackFlashbackFlashbackFlashbackFlashbackFlashMe(;Flashback**_

Taker had been screaming at him for half an hour, he could barely hear what he was saying over the sound of his own heart thumping in his ears. He was leaving the company, and had some last minute confessions to make on his last night there. He knew their relationship was over the moment he decided to walk into Taker's locker room.

They were on a break a month ago, Taker needed space away from all of Shawn's problems, and Shawn screwed everything up the very first night of the break. He had gotten drunk, met some woman at the bar he was in, and then she claimed to be pregnant. She had called him, having gotten his number from their previous encounter, and broke the news. He was going to be a father.

"Baby, Carrot Top, I was so fucking drunk. I didn't even know what was happening for most of it."

" _Pregnant_. You _cheated_ on me?" The big bad Deadman was choking up, looking between Shawn and the door, and deciding if he was going to kick Shawn out. He couldn't believe that on top of everything else, all the drug problems, the injury, Shawn leaving the company, and an ego the size of Texas, he had the nerve to do something like this to a person that stood by him through all of it.

" _You_ were the one, who wanted to take a break, so don't act like this was _my_ fucking fault." This was his way of coping, blaming others for his own fuck ups. It was his defense mechanism and made him able to look at himself in the mirror at the end of the day.

"Get out. I don't want to hear from you, I don't want to see you; I don't even want to know that you exist, just get the fuck out."

He stormed out and only stopped when he found someone who was dealing.

 _ **EndOfFlashbackEndOfFlashbackEndOfFlashbackEndOfFlashbackEndOfFlashbackEnd**_

He had been sitting in the locker room with his nose in a book for about an hour, waiting for his match with Hunter to begin. He was excited for this one; it was a Hell in a Cell, one of his all-time favorites. He had been on the last chapter when the book was pulled out of his hands. Shawn knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation, no matter who had snatched the book.

"Michaels, you and I need to have a little chat."

"I was almost done reading that, Kane." He had barely seen this guy since he came back, and here he is, snatching books. Shawn's lips turned downward into a pout. He was just about to find out the fate of the main characters. Kane really could be cruel.

"The spider dies." Kane flung the book across the room as he said it and Shawn's mouth fell open at the audacity. Kane raised his eyebrow at Shawn's expression, daring him to get angry. Shawn stood up, muttering about rude people, and started digging in his bag for his wrestling gear. His match would be coming up soon.

"You know why I'm here, Shawn. My brother is stubborn, you're stubborn. I need one of you to stop tiptoeing around the other and actually speak. He's going batshit trying to figure out if he should avoid you or make amends. I'm not asking you, I'm _telling_ you to talk to him, sooner rather than later."

Kane left after his message was received and Shawn stood there for several minutes trying to figure out what to do, but first he had a match to lose.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wagers and Tattoos**

Shawn knew it wasn't a good idea to shower on Taker's side of the locker room, but all the showers on the side that he normally kept to were full, and he had blood covering his hair, his arm had been sliced with barbwire, and his back ached like it had never ached before. He was bloody and in pain, a shower couldn't wait. Hunter really did a number on him, but he knew he returned the favor.

"Shawn? What the hell are ya doin' over here?" Steve Austin had spotted him literally tiptoeing to get to the showers.

"I...I uhh... just...

"Tryna avoid Taker? Ya look like shit, man; the match was fuckin' incredible though. C'mon, ya can use the shower I just used, it isn't near 'im." If Shawn had ever been grateful to anyone, it paled in comparison, in this moment, to his absolute gratitude towards Steve.

After he had finished his shower, bandaged himself up, and got dressed, most had gone to their hotel rooms for the night. Hunter had left him a note that said their room number and he knew they were both hurting after a match like that because Hunter never left for bed early. He grabbed his bag, walking quickly towards the exit and not paying much attention, ran right into a rock solid body.

" _Shit_ , Shawn, you're the human fucking embodiment of a bumble bee." It was Taker, out of all the ways Shawn had envisioned meeting him again, this wasn't the way he expected. Shawn spent a solid two minutes staring dumbly at him and avoiding looking at those beautiful green eyes. Those eyes were like a drug to him, one that he couldn't shake, and one that he wasn't even sure he wanted to.

"You… You're... wow."

"Wow yourself, Heartbreaker." He had a smirk gracing his face, it made Shawn feel a bit week at the knees, not matter how cliché that may sound, and a cliché like that would make them both cringe if he said it out loud.

"Hi, wow..."

"How many times do you plan on saying 'wow'?"

It was like his brain was short circuiting, he couldn't think of shit to say. He was like a fish out of water, opening and closing his mouth, in the hopes that one of the times he had it open; the right words would find a way out. He couldn't believe he, _The Heartbreak Kid,_ was struggling so much with his mouth to brain connection. "We should…talk. If you want to, I owe you an apology."

"Yeah, we should, if you can manage a conversation."

Taker had grabbed Shawn's bag for him, before he had the chance to protest, and carried it to his bright red motorcycle, motioning for him to get on first. Shawn hadn't been on one of these bikes since they had split, could barely even look at them for months. He knew that Taker didn't let hardly anyone ride with him and the fact that he was still letting Shawn; it made his heartbeat speed up.

As Shawn sat behind Taker, he made it a point to leave a small space between them; he had a light hold on his hips, trying not to make things incredibly uncomfortable. They had been on the road for nearly ten minutes when they reached a small pizzeria; it was a quiet business, with only a couple customers. They sat down in a booth, after ordering a few slices of pizza, and faced each other; Shawn avoided eye contact, opting to stare at his ex-lover's chin. The only other customers – two women who had been sucking pizza sauce off of each other's faces – had stood up and left. There was only Shawn, Mark, and the owner of the little restaurant, who decided it was a good time for his break.

It was awkward, beyond awkward. Shawn hadn't made eye contact, and Mark was giving him this look like he expected the entire world of him, maybe he did. It was only about fifteen minutes since they'd arrived there and Shawn had read every single sign, twice. The sign that read 'open late', really stood out to him, he realized they could sit here for half the night if Taker wanted to, so he might as well say something…anything: "So, you got more tattoos."

"I did."

"They're great."

"Yeah."

"What's that one, the one on your arm?" Shawn couldn't quite make the tattoo out in the dimly lit place, but he could definitely see the frown that replaced the awkward expression on Taker's face. (Shit, that rhymed. I'm a fuckin' genius.)

"It's a dagger, got it a few days after you left."

"and that one? The one on your neck, is it a… a heart?"

"It was going to be, but I didn't get it finished. Look, we didn't exactly come here to discuss my tattoos, darlin'." Taker hadn't taken his eyes off of the tattooed dagger on his forearm since it had come up, Shawn knew he was trying to swerve the conversation to a lighter topic, but maybe they needed to talk about tattoos the most, because he was certain that they meant something deeper.

"Your tattoos have always told stories, Mark. Maybe we ought to talk about 'em."

Taker needed his closure, he needed some peace; he didn't want to discuss his tattoos right now, it was too emotional, meant too much, and Shawn was just as stubborn as he was when it came to talking about emotions. If Taker knew that he wouldn't be able to keep his cool, he wouldn't have approached Shawn in the first place, he hadn't meant for it to slip out, but the questions were burning on the tip of his tongue. He had wanted to say something else, something about the weather or taxes, something that would make him less stressed out, but instead he said:

"How could you fuck someone _else_?"

 **Hello! I hope you like this so far. Sorry for any mistakes made. I'm not 100% sure where this fanfic is going, but it sounds rad and angsty enough. Also, dagger tattoos are often a symbol of betrayal and heartbreak. Thank you for reading!**


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